Animated toy



G. A. PURDUM Dec. 26, 1950 ANIMATED TOY Filed Aug. 1'7, 1948 GENEV/EVE A PURDUM INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in animated toys adapted to simulate various types of swimming and crawling animals such as beavers, turtles and the like.

It is one of the principal objects of the invention to provide a toy of this character which will move along the ground and also propel itself along the surface of water and in so doing simulate the crawling, walking, or swimming movements of the animal it represents.

These and other objects will appear as my invention is more fully hereinafter described in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and finally pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figures 1 and 2 are top and side views, respectively, of a toy made in accordance with my invention and with fragments broken away for clearness of illustration.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing:

Reference numeral I indicates generally the main .body of the toy which is of hollow construction and made out of buoyant material. The forward end of the body is formed with a downwardly extending projection 2 to which is swingably attached as at 3 a head 4. A projection 5 extends rearwardly from the head and is bifurcated as at 6 to embrace a wobble plate 1 secured to a drum 8. To each end of the drum is secured a Wheel 9 through which an axle I0 extends and about which the wheels and drum rotate. The axle is secured in a frame I I mounted on the interior of the body. Each wheel is formed into a plurality of spaced apart paddles I 2. Disposed within the drum 8 is coil spring I3 whose one end is secured to the axle and whose opposite end is secured to the wheel as at I4.

A tail I5 is loosely attached to the rear of the body member as at I6 for movement in a vertical and horizontal plane. The inner end of the tail is bifurcated as at I'I and embraces the wobble plate 1. A compression spring I8 is disposed between the body member and the inner end of the tail to maintain the inner end of the tail in contact with the irregular peripheral surface I9 of the wobble plate so that as the plate is rotated vertical motion to the tail will be imparted by the irregular surface and lateral motion will be imparted by the twist in the wobble plate.

To wind the spring I3, the toy is moved rearwardly which will cause the wheel 9 to wrap the spring about the axle. Upon release the toy will move forward .by the action of the unwinding spring. If desired, I may ll the drum 8 with any approved type of substance such as heavy grease or the like for retarding the unwinding of the spring which will result in a slower forward motion of the toy.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the toy will roll along a surface and will float on water and be propelled therealong by the paddles I2 and throughout its movement theY head 4 will move up and down the tail and will move vertically and from side to side.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

An animated toy, comprising a hollow body member made of buoyant material, a head swing-- ably mounted at the forward end of the body member, a tail pivotally and hingedly mounted at the opposite end of the body member for movement in a vertical and horizontal plane, supporting wheels attached to a drum rotatably carried by the body member, a coil spring disposed within the drum and having one of its ends attached to the body member and its opposite end to said wheels for imparting rotation thereto, means carried by the drum and frictionally engaged with said head and tail to impart intermittent lateral and vertical movement thereto, said means comprising a wobble plate formed around the drum and bifurcated projections formed on said head and tail and embracing said wobble plate, and vanes carried by said wheels for propelling said body member along the surface of the water.

GENEVIEVE A. PURDUM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 340,655 Bogner Apr. 27, 1886 1,487,556 Goble Mar. 18, 1924 1,574,035 Holtzman Feb. 23, 1926 2,065,337 Lee Dec. 22,: 1936 

